


Stick in the mud

by Fogfire



Category: Mission: Impossible (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-29
Updated: 2018-10-29
Packaged: 2019-08-09 11:10:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16448813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fogfire/pseuds/Fogfire





	1. Chapter 1

“Why do I have to play the boring professor?”

Jane looks at him with her best annoyed eye roll and Benji closes his mouth again, because, yes, he knows they have discussed this three times already, but his undercover identity on this mission is literally being the most boring professor a college can offer and that’s just not…

“And I can’t even wear a mask,” he grumbles and checks his costume one last time. It’s as boring as it can be, a dark green knitted waistcoat over a checkered shirt and a boring brown pair of those trousers only boring teachers seem to wear.

They even gave him a mustache and his skin itches from the glue.

Considering that he has to play the most oblivious guy ever to trick people into tricking him, they should have gone a bit further with everything. He’s not superficial, but he is sure he doesn’t have the kind of face everyone just trusts immediately. Jane might have said it, but that doesn’t mean it’s true.

-

“So, how was your weekend?” Pepper asks and looks over your shared desks.

“Nice,” you say and open up the program that you need to see what books have been requested.

“Nice?” She asks, her voice laced with an undertone that you don’t like but still know all too well.

“Yes,” you say courtly, determined not to give her more information she could use to make fun of you.

“Did you play your games again?” She asks nonetheless and you hit a certain button on your keyboard with more force than necessary, jumping out of your chair to retrieve the book list from the printers across the room.

You can hear Pepper snicker when you walk away, taking your sudden leave as the answer it is. Yes, you have played video games on your weekend.

“And how was yours?” You ask when you have to walk past her, trying to get her to drop the joke that has stopped being funny two weeks after you started working here.

She takes the bait and for the next hour all you have to do is nod and mumble things that sound like yes and sure and really and can do your work in peace at the same time.

“And then Jim woke up and you wouldn’t believe it, his boxer was-” Pepper stops talking and you look up to see what could have possibly caused that disturbance.

A guy has stepped in and judging the brown trousers and the dark green knitted waistcoat he has to be a professor or one of these concerned parents.

“Can I help you?” You ask before Pepper can snicker like she always does when she feels someone’s looks are worse than they should be.

The guy isn’t exactly pretty, considering that he has a very ugly reddish mustache and his glasses make his eyes look big and frightened as if he’s an insect waiting to be eaten, but he has a nice smile that tells you enough about his character. People with smiles like that are usually easy to get along with.

“Oh, yes…” He fumbles around a bit and pulls a folded up list out of his trouser pocket, “I need this- uh, I need this books for my class.”

You step up to him and take the list, surprised to see that he looks a lot younger from up close. He’s probably just a few years older than you instead of way over fifty as you had initially thought.

“Oh, we have those right here, I’ll show you.”

“S-sure,” he stumbles over the word and almost trips over his own feet when he follows you.

-

“That was an A+ performance,” Jane’s voice is cheerful in his ears and he blushes a scarlet red when the doors of the library close behind him.

He can’t really tell her that he hadn’t expected the suspects co-worker to look so cute, to be so helpful. He can’t tell the rest of his team that he didn’t stutter on purpose but because the smile of a certain librarian made him stumble over his words like a lovestruck teenager all over again.

“Thank you,” he says instead and holds the books in his hands a little bit tighter, “What did the co-worker do?”

“The woman goes under the alias Pepper Jones, we’re still tracking down all her other identities. She spied on you two, apparently, she’s pretty nosy. We hacked into the other librarian’s computer in the meantime and as soon as she sends Pepper a email or something else, the other computer is infected… She’s playing Halo in every lunch break, maybe we can use that to our advantage.”

Benji stops in his tracks a second time, nervous all over again, as if he’s just talked to his favorite Celebrity without knowing their identity and learning it makes him feel all the anxiety he should have felt in the first place, makes his knees wobbly and his blood run cold as if winter has crept up on him.

-

You notice the glitch the moment you start your game.

Lunch break means Pepper is not around and the few students who come in can be dealt with easily.

Lunch break means that you have an hour to play video games, to reset and calm yourself down enough to withstand dealing with Pepper, difficult students and the drag of having to work in a school facility of all things.

And now the game is glitching on a very expensive office computer that has never malfunctioned before.

You groan, stop and restart the computer, hoping for a better result. You need to play now, need something that will make your day a bit better after having to listen to Pepper talk for four solid hours.

You decide to open your emails before starting to play. You need to anyway and if the game won’t work you have at least done the unpleasant things already.

There are five messages from students, two from professors and one from someone who’s name is not familiar, asking you to direct a message towards Pepper.

“As if,” you mumble and delete the message, feeling smug and a tiny bit better.

And when you restart Halo, it works like it used to. So, restarting the thing isn’t the worst choice then, after all. Who needs IT if you can do it yourself?


	2. Chapter 2

“Benji, get down to the Library?”

He tries to swallow the bite he has just taken from his sandwich, gives up and mumbles around the food in his mouth.

“Why?”

“That one librarian just deleted the tracer. Get down there and do something about it.”

“I can’t.”

“Why?”

“She’s so pretty! And she plays Halo and-”

“Benji!” Jane’s voice is clear, cold and hits him where it hurts.

“You’re a grown man, you’re an agent and this is a job not you trying to pick up a girl. Go to the library! Now!”

“Yessir!” Benji replies out of instinct and races down the hallways. He gets a few looks but does not have it in him to care.

And then he all but bursts through the library doors.

-

You’re in the middle of a rather difficult streak when the door bursts open behind you, loud enough to drown out the sound of the game in your ears. You jump out of your seat, convinced that there must be a fire, an explosion, a gas leak, a robbery- and it’s the new professor, staring at you like a deer in the headlights.

“What the hell?!” You yell, “What is wrong?!”

“I need you to go out with me!” The guy yelps and you stare at him in shock.

“What?” You ask, trying to find a hidden meaning or at least an explanation.

“What?” He asks back and straightens up suddenly, walking towards you. He’s breathless and the mustache is gone. Did he shave in the few hours he has been here?

“Are you playing Halo?” He asks, his voice breathless, the meaning behind the question hard to read. Not that you need to, you’re angry enough as it is.

“What?” You ask again, your voice louder now. You square your shoulders and step into his way, staring him down despite the fact that he is at least one head taller than you, “Do you have a problem with that, Mister? You teach history, I enjoy violent games, get over it and buy yourself new clothes instead of criticizing me! And-”

He tries to say something but you stop him, feeling confident once in awhile. You need this off your chest and if you don’t have to scream at Pepper for it - who might report you - even better.

“You can’t just run into libraries and demand things! You need to knock!”

“I didn’t want to!” He apologizes, his voice higher than before. He sounds almost panicked.

“I just… there was a mail and Pepper and - you play Halo and…!”

He shouldn’t have mentioned Pepper. He shouldn’t have mentioned Halo either.

““I’m sick of hearing what a stick in the mud I am, all because I don’t enjoy doing things other people do!” You yell at him, “Now get out of my lunch break before I make you!”

He stares at you in shock and hangs his head, almost like a sad puppy.

You point towards the door and he leaves without another word.

When you’re sure he won’t burst through the doors the next second, you sit down again. Your game didn’t pause, but you don’t have it in you to curse. That… what just happened… it feels as if all the anger of the past two years you have had to work with Pepper just rained out of you on the strange new Professor who had the luck to point out that you’re not like every other girl.

-

Benji knows he should be more concerned about the mission than about his pride, but his pride still hurts like hell.

The rest of the team spares him the embarrassment of going through the scene together. They’ve heard everything through the microphone and they can imagine how it must have looked like.

Jane tries to get her way into Peppers computer after lunch break ends, but comes up unsuccessful as well.

“Jane, you act as if you’re luring Benji out of his office. Don’t make it too obvious, you two, but I want everyone to know that the office is going to be empty.”

Benji readies himself, taking a sip of his cold coffee while listening to Ethan’s voice in his ear.

“I will try my luck with the librarian in the meantime…”

Benji spits his coffee all over his shirt and jumps up, half of him determined to mask his emotions, half of him concerned about the stains on his shirt.

There’s a knock at the door and Jane steps in, smiling apologetically.

“Come on…”

-

Two hours later Benji is back in his office. Everything looks just like he has left it, but he knows better. A certain someone was here and took the bait as well as the tracer that will tell them everything they need. Now the only thing they need to do is place another tracer on Peppers computer before Pepper disappears again. The next time she will turn up will be under another name and identity and they have enough on their plate without having to track her down again.

“Unsuccessful,” Ethan mumbles into his microphone and Benji allows himself a small smile, before realizing that this information isn’t good for the mission at all.

“And now?” He asks instead.

Jane sighs. And sighs again.

“Benji. You’re going to listen to me… I have a plan.”

-

Pepper has just left, when the library doors open again. You have only half an hour left and you hope the last customers of the day will be easy. There’s nothing worse than having a work disaster right before clocking out.

You turn your chair around and freeze. It’s him.

“Hi…” He holds his hand up shyly, “I came to apologize.”

You take a deep breath, clench your teeth and get up as well, stretching out your hand for him to take. It’s an awkward gesture, but it is burnt into your mind from the time you were a kid.

“No, I have to apologize.”

“But, I… I made you angry.”

“You scared me,” you waved him off, “And I was agitated because you pulled me right out of a difficult part of the game. I shouldn’t have reacted that way.”

“That was perfectly fine, you must have thought I was mocking you, considering what you said.”

“Yeah, well, I… I thought you were.”

He looks at you with bright, open eyes that show surprise and worry.

“But I wasn’t…”

“Huh?”

He shakes his head and grabs your hand, shaking it up and down.

“I wasn’t mocking you! I was just very astonished, that you play Halo as well and I was nervous, because you are so pretty and nice and…”

“How old are you?” You ask, the question falling off your lips before you can hold it back.

He stops and smiles awkwardly, before telling you his age. Now it’s your turn to be surprised. He is just three years older than you.

“But your clothes…”

You gesture awkwardly towards his body and he blushes.

“I thought it would seem more serious. I really wanted this job…”

“Oh…”

“Can I… can I ask you out? Or rather in? I’d love to invite you on a Halo play date…” He gestures towards the computers and his face is an adorable picture of eagerness.

You can’t help to giggle.

“You have half an hour to prep Peppers computer so we can play,” you tell him, “I will finish off work in the meantime.”

He smiles at you and you can’t help to smile back.


End file.
